Monday, September 12, 2011

Chili Weather!

So I sort of hate this time of year, but I also sort of love it. I hate that summer is coming to an end. I hate knowing that in a few months, I'll be wearing a damn coat everyday and shivering at my desk. I hate that the Memphis Farmers Market only has a few more weeks before closing for the season. I hate hibernation (which I totally do ... I don't go out nearly as much in the winter).

But fall means my October birthday is almost here, and I love presents. And cake. I love pumpkins. And Halloween is the very best holiday of all, followed closely by Thanksgiving. Fall also means Gay Pride Month in Memphis (we have ours in October because it's too hot during actual pride month in June), hoodies, and most importantly, CHILI!!!

I love chili. You can eat it with cornbread or tortilla chips. You can put beer and/or chocolate in it. You can slather it on your hot dogs, your fries, your mom, whatever. What's not to love? Since the temps temporarily dropped into the 70s last weekend, I cooked up a big ole vat (okay, it was really just a medium-sized pot, but I wish it'd been a vat) of Texas Chili from the Sunny Days in Texas vegan cook zine:

The chili recipe was submitted by Molly Frisinger of Lone Star Plate, and it features bulgur in place of the more traditional TVP or veggie burger crumbles. The bulgur has a similar texture to TVP, but it's more filling since it's a whole grain.

On top of my chili are onions and a healthy scoop of Nacheez sauce, which I picked up at Food Fight Grocery in Portland. It's a nacho sauce made from red bell peppers, cashews, chilis, and jalepenos. Yummy! I served my chili with plenty of Garden of Eatin' Red Hot Blues chips for dippin'.

19 comments:

It has been a long time since I've had a chili dog, but lately that's sounded just about perfect. Chili is one of those foods, like pizza and french fries, that is almost always good. Of course, some versions are better than others, but it's something I'm almost guaranteed to like (assuming it's vegan, of course).

I love fall! Sweater and boot weather! (vegan, natch). Leaves are turning! And I love, love, love slow cooking chili and stew, smelling it all day and enjoying a hot bowl after being out in the crisp weather. Sigh.

That chili looks great -- I should have picked up that 'zine, filled with recipes from some of my favorite people. Drats.

I hear you on the love-hate with fall, and my birthday is in October too! But it's sad, because for a good 5 months in Saskatchewan the temperature lives between 2 - 30 in Farenheit. Winter is very, very long and grim. But fall is pretty!

The chili looks so so good. I love the stuff--it goes with everything (fries, rice, pasta, chips...) and cool fall weather is the perfect excuse for making it. :) Fall is my favorite season, so I don't really hate anything about it in particular.

What I dislike about fall is the lack of light for food pictures! I am camera challenged or just too busy to take time to learn how to turn off my flash and everything comes up looking awful!

I love cooler weather since we don't have A/C and I love all the public schooled kids at school all day so I can take my homeschooled kids out and about to the library and the like without the huge crowds. I love soup too!

So funny, I did the exact same thing this weekend! I took advantage of the temporary temperature drop & made vegan chili! Mine's more like taco soup and highly processed but it's one of the few "chili" type soups that my husband and I can agree on since he's not vegan. I too LOVE FAll, and Halloween is my favorite holiday too :) I think my favorite thing about Fall is my wardrobe. I love wearing boots and dresses!

My name is Bianca ...

About Me

I'm a 9-year vegan, 19-year vegetarian from the Mid-South, not too far from the muddy banks of the Mississippi River. And that means cornbread, butter beans, and collard greens.
These days, I live in Memphis. Check out my cookbook — Cookin' Crunk. It's filled with yummilicious veganized soul food and country classics.